Police in New Brunswick have charged a friend of Moncton shooter Justin Bourque with threatening to kill police, though a spokesman said the cases are “absolutely not connected.”

There are many links between the two men, however, including a court order imposed Monday that Jasper John Stam, 25, not contact Mr. Bourque, whom he has praised and defended on the Internet.

Mr. Stam, who describes himself as a “baker, musician, anarchist,” is to appear for a bail hearing Wednesday. Police have not revealed how the alleged threats were made, only that it was between May 10 and May 18.

One of 12 children, Mr. Stam lives in Shediac, a coastal town near Moncton. His father Nick runs a bakery in nearby Notre-Dame, NB, and is a regular at Moncton’s weekend market.

Mr. Stam’s brother Harry said he was unaware of the arrest on Monday. A man who answered the phone at the home of Nick Stam, Jasper’s father, said the family did not wish to comment.

On the day of Mr. Bourque’s shooting rampage, at about 11pm, Mr. Stam wrote online: “Holy shit, I know that guy.”

On Facebook on Friday June 6, after Mr. Bourque had been caught, Mr. Stam shared a link to the blog of Christopher Cantwell, an extremist American gun rights advocate who glorifies the deaths of police officers.

“So to you Justin, I say good luck,” Mr. Cantwell wrote during the manhunt. “I sympathize deeply with the fear and frustration that led you to this mission. Even though I disagree with your decision, I have a deep and profound respect for it. I admire your courage.”

Facebook

On Saturday June 7, Mr. Stam posted on Facebook, “just got fired for being friends with someone.”

He also wrote in defence of Mr. Bourque, calling him “Justin,” denying he had a mental illness or did hard drugs, and saying “he didn’t put on a uniform every day and pretend to be above others. harassing the public as the pigs do downtown and on the roads.”

Mr. Bourque, according to Mr. Stam, “did not do anyone who deserved respect any wrong. not ever. one of the most respectable of my friends. polite also.”

He also hinted at a possible motivation for Mr. Bourque’s rampage: “I’m sorry for the lack of mercy that people are displaying for him and for the friend he lost and for the lack of justice in this world and that he felt it was necessary to take justice into his own hands and set things straight for the family and loved ones of the dead boy.”

There has been speculation the “dead boy” refers to Daniel Levesque, 30, who was shot by Codiac RCMP last year in the same area of the city where Mr. Bourque was captured.

An outside police force concluded on May 23 of this year that the officers, responding to reports of a man with a knife breaking into a car, used reasonable force, and that Mr. Levesque died of stab wounds sustained prior to the shooting.